


There's Nothing Wrong With a Quidditch Jersey

by ohmyrowling



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-05
Updated: 2014-11-05
Packaged: 2018-02-24 04:06:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2567609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmyrowling/pseuds/ohmyrowling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A 'we wore matching Halloween costumes to this party' au.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There's Nothing Wrong With a Quidditch Jersey

**Author's Note:**

> It's a little late for Halloween but I've just not had a chance to post it here.

"Oh my god, Ginny. You can’t go as a Quidditch player when you are a Quidditch player!”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “I’m going as a Puddlemere player and I play for Holyhead. It counts.”

"You’re such a spoilsport," Demelza said fixing her cat ears.

"I just don’t see the point of spending tons of Galleons on a costume I’ll only wear once when I have something that works perfectly well already in my closet."

"It is kind of a cheat," Luna said from inside her homemade Crumple-Horned Snorcack costume. She had to be boiling in there but she hadn’t complained yet. "But you look lovely in that shade of blue. It really compliments your aura."

"Thanks, Luna," she said with a smug look at Demelza who just rolled her eyes.  Besides, I don’t have time to change- if we don’t get going now, we’ll be late."

Demelza just sighed and went ahead through the Floo. Luna followed after her and Ginny, after a swift look in the mirror to confirm that she did, in fact, look fabulous in that shade of blue, did the same.

The party was at the Leaky Cauldron as a sort of Grand Reopening. Hannah Abbott had recently inherited the place from a distant relative and totally renovated it. It was almost unrecognizable now, Ginny thought as she looked around. The walls were repainted a cheery yellow color and the tables were all made of scrubbed wood and the usual layer of dust on the floor was missing. Not to mention all the lights brightening the place up.

"Hey, you guys made it!" Neville said sloshing his drink around.

"Yeah. Only because Ginny picked the most boring costume ever."

"Oh, I didn’t even realize she was in a costume," Neville said taking a drink.

Ginny just laughed. “Why don’t you have another one, mate?” she said slapping Neville on the back. He slopped some more of his drink on the floor.

He grinned and moved past the girls toward Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas who were calling him from the other side of the room.

Demelza made her way over to the bar to get them drinks while Ginny scanned the room. She spotted a few of her brothers scattered around. Bill and Fleur were in a booth sitting entirely too close, dressed as Bonnie and Clyde. George (dressed as Dumbledore) had Percy (as a pirate) around the shoulders, dragging him through the crowd. And there, across the room, was Ron with his arm around Hermione’s waist. Ginny told Luna she’d see her later and pushed her way over to her brother.

"What’ve we got here, a prince and a princess?"

"King Arthur and Queen Guinevere," Hermione said proudly. "I found them in my parents’ attic. Aren’t they amazing?"

They were, really. Hermione’s dress was deep blue and made of velvet with gold brocade all down the skirt and she wore a gold circlet in her hair. Ron’s costume was red with similar brocade and a large, gold crown.

"You look great."

"You on the other hand," Ron said glancing at Ginny’s jersey. "I mean really? And you didn’t even pick a good team!"

Ginny rolled her eyes. She was about to retort but someone else beat her to it.

"You’re just sore because Puddlemere beat the Canons last weekend."

The newcomer was someone Ginny had never met before but she knew who he was. Harry Potter. Like, _the_ Harry Potter. He’d played Quidditch professionally for a few years before he became the best Auror Britain had seen since Mad-Eye Moody was in his prime. Ginny’d had a crush on him since he’d played for Montrose, plus he was Ron and Hermione’s best friend. Also, he was wearing the exact same jersey as Ginny.

"You must be Ginny. Ron talks about you all the time."

Ginny smiled and shot a surprised look at her brother.

"A bloke is allowed to be proud of his baby sister when she beats a league record," Ron said confidently, though Ginny noticed his ears go red.

"Well don’t worry Ron. I brag about you sometimes too. The girls love to hear about your Pygmy Puff tattoo."

Harry and Hermione laughed. Ron’s neck grew even redder and he narrowed his eyes at the three of them. Ginny waggled her eyebrows and grinned conspiratorially.

"Now that is something I’d pay to see," Harry said chuckling.

"Shut up," Ron said shoving his friend.

"So I see you couldn’t be bothered to wear a proper costume either, Harry," Hermione said pointedly.

Harry rolled his eyes. “I had enough to be getting on with lately. Besides, why spend money on something I’m only ever going to wear once?”

Ginny punched Harry’s arm without thinking. “That’s exactly what I said!”

Harry chuckled and rubbed the spot where she’d hit him.

"Oh, sorry," she said, blushing.

Ginny worked hard not to fangirl (like, seriously, _the Harry Potter_ ) but as the night wore on she realized that he was just an ordinary bloke who was out to have fun with his friends. He was funny and kind and he favored Butterbeer over Firewhisky and other harder liquors. Also, he was cute as hell.

He wasn’t buff like a lot of Ginny’s teammates always speculated he might be. He was actually rather skinny and lanky, though he did have nice arms. His hair was a total mess and Ginny had the strangest urge to run her fingers through it.

They sat together at the bar all night in their matching jerseys, just talking, even after Ron and Hermione had bid everyone goodnight. She learned that Harry loved treacle tart, that he’d had to take the potions portion of his Auror training twice, and that he was the world’s biggest Puddlemere fan despite having played for Montrose. And he got her to talk about things she hadn’t talked about in years; how difficult it was being the seventh child, how much she _loathed_ the publicity part of her job, how much she missed her brother Fred. He asked her questions and acted like he was honestly interested in her answers and he looked her in the eye, something a lot of guys had trouble with either because they were too busy ogling other parts of her or because they found her intimidating. And was it just Ginny, or was he flirting with her? He sat close, so that their arms were almost touching.

"So how do you like Holyhead?"

Ginny smiled as Harry passed her another Butterbeer, letting his fingers brush hers. She felt a chill go down her spine.

"It’s nice. I really like it actually. I was a bit nervous going so far from home, but the girls on the team are great and I really do love it up there. It’s a really beautiful place."

"I’ve only ever been to Wales on assignment, which doesn’t leave much time for sightseeing or anything like that."

Ginny smiled coyly and said, “Maybe you can come up and visit me sometime.”

To his credit, Harry only blinked at her before a slow smile spread across his face.

"I’d like that. A lot, actually."


End file.
